BP Announces Spending Plan For Alaska

JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) — The president of BP Alaska says the company plans to boost its capital spending in the state from just under $900 million last year to $1.2 billion this year.

Janet Weiss says Alaska is more competitive under its new oil tax structure. She says the company plans to reinvest 90 cents of every dollar it makes in Alaska, back into Alaska.

She says production follows investment.

Weiss says some projects that figure in to BP's capital spending program were started under the old tax structure and a more aggressive timeline for others was implemented since the new tax was passed.

BP is announcing a seismic program, beginning this summer, on the northern edge of Prudhoe Bay. Weiss says preliminary data suggests recoverable resources of about 55 million barrels there.